Chapter 13: The Frozen Plains

Meillienne wasn't too sure where she was. The last couple of days have been a blur to her. After being captured from the forest, she had been dragged from place to place, through one warp portal to another. She had lost her sense of time and direction for a while now, and she felt scared.

The place she was in was obvious. Her captors had thrown her and Caris into a dungeon cell, a dark, small room cell with stone walls all over the place. There was a small window somewhere high up, too far up for either of them to reach to look outside, its only purpose was to allow them to breathe slightly. As far as Meillienne could recall, after being in the cell for so long, she never saw any sunlight coming in from the outside. A large wooden door blocked their only escape, opened only when their captors decided to feed them, usually just a bowl of soup and some bread.

She had been worried ever since. Although they have not harmed her or Caris, except for the time when she struggled too much, they have yet to do anything with them. Meillienne could not fanthom why they would want her alive for. To serve what purpose? Furthermore, she was afraid of Caris's life, looking at her lying slumped before her feet. The only reason they were keeping her alive was because she might take drastic actions if they killed her. Once used, Caris could be disposed off easily.

Meillienne turned around when Caris groaned and got up, stretching herself slightly. The red-haired acolyte was slightly older than her in age, but way much older in terms of wisdom and experience. Meillienne had to admit that her companion had a lot of guts. Caris was no doubt an acolyte in training like she was, but she had this tough, firm exterior, almost like some hardened soldier, perhaps possessing more discipline than Maycron, even if he had been in the army longer than her. Meillienne had seen her single-handedly try to take down the cell guards by herself, although the attempt failed, since they were still here.

" Is it morning now?" Caris asked.

" I think it is…how's your head?" Meillienne asked.

" I'll live, I believe…or maybe not, if I try something like that again," Caris replied, rubbing the spot where she had been hit previously by the guards for attempting something bold. Truth was, Caris was about as terrified as Meillienne was, but she decided that they have to do something about it anyway.

" That's good to hear," Meillienne replied.

" Maybe…how are you today?" Caris asked.

" Cold…" Meillienne replied.

Caris picked herself up and sat down next to Meillienne, who was leaning propped against a wall, and placed her hands over her shoulders and rubbed the girls shoulders to keep her warm. Meillienne blushed slightly as she felt very comfortable with the older companion hugging her snuggly.

" Better?" Caris asked, smiling.

" Much…" Meillienne replied, giggling.

" Do you think that the army might come for us?" Caris asked.

" Of course," Meillienne replied confidently.

" What makes you so sure? Not trying to be pessimistic, but it might be highly risky for the army to send out their troops just for a couple of acolytes…well, and we aren't really particularly an interesting bunch to rescue anyway…not that I have anything about you being Morrocan," Caris added quickly.

Meillienne merely smiled. " Maybe, but I know someone who will come and help us, no matter what the circumstances, even if he has to drag his body here at any cost," Meillienne answered. Caris looked slightly confounded at the confidence Meillienne had on her face, her suddenly radiant face brightening up the place all of a sudden.

" Who?" Caris asked curiously.

-

Azaroth scanned the entire area. Lutie was perpetually covered in snow, and will probably always be. The city was not too far off, sitting at some distance, and they only entered from a distance as to not make their presence known to the members of the Deathguise guild that might just be lurking around the place. The place looked gloomy and grey from the lack of sunshine, and Azaroth could see why. Dark clouds covered the sky, blocking out heat and light, raining down snow and snowflakes all over the place. The placed chilled him slightly.

" What a dump," Tryzen remarked.

" I agree," Azaroth said, shivering slightly. Even with the slight detour back to Prontera to get some warmer clothing still made Azaroth feel the chill in his bones, a feeling he distinctly hated. He was among the only one in the entire group, save for Grimjaw, who had not travelled to a cold place, nor enjoyed the feeling. He was quite surprised to see Grimjaw withstanding the cold, even if he never explored much of other places out of Morroc.

" I second that," Vermillion replied.

Of course, there were still oddities in their group.

Vermillion stood proudly over the small knoll they were on, scanning the city as well. Unlike the rest of them, Vermillion was the only person, or idiot, who decided not to wear anything warm, just her usual monk's uniform. Azaroth had a large, thick cape wrapped around his body, and Tryzen had an extra jacket along with a cape to keep him warm, but both of them could still see Vermillion was bold, or strong enough, to leave some parts of her body exposed to the chilling air. Then again, Vermillion was never normal in the first place, as Tryzen suspected that she had some sort of odd mental disorder, and perhaps being slightly crazy allowed her to withstand the cold.

" What are you chowderheads talking about?" Melanie asked harshly as she walked up to them.

" Nothing, surveying the city and trying to keep warm," Azaroth replied.

" What a pussy," Melanie sighed.

" Hark, it's not like I got extra fat on other parts of my body," Azaroth replied.

Melanie raised her eyebrow at the remark, looking annoyed and amused at the same time. After a while, she huffed and walked back towards where the rest of them were waiting, her footsteps sounding heavy.

" Cheeky…even with your superior officer," Tryzen replied.

" Hey, I've got a bad influence from you," Azaroth remarked.

-

Vermillion, Azaroth and Tryzen returned back to the entire troop after a while, both men shivering in the cold. The rest of them were huddled under a large tree, situated at the nearby forest at the outskirts of the forest that surrounded the city. All of them sat around quietly, not wanting to expend more energy than they have to.

" Alright, so we are now currently in Lutie, but as of yet, we have no clue as to what is happening with the man we are chasing after, nor the guild he has affiliated himself to, or where the acolytes are. So, we will have to do this the hard way: we will split up in pairs, and enter the town and search slowly," Melanie replied to the rest of them. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

" I'll settle the allotments: Maycron will come with me; Soreen, go with Azaroth; Vermillion, you are with Teranis, Flick and Camelia, as per usual; and the married couple go together," Melanie replied. " Report back in two hours, and we will see what to do then."

" Wait a second, why am I…?" Grimjaw started.

" You have proven to be a but of a liability to the team, so until I deem you useful, you will sit this one out, and will keep quiet about it," Melanie replied sternly, in which Grimjaw backed down immediately.

" What about me?" Semilia asked. " I'm sure I'm not…"

" As far as I am concerned, your attitude towards my second-in-command is not helping matters," Melanie replied sternly towards Semilia as well. Semilia stopped, as if she had suddenly been doused in cold water. Azaroth did his best to stifle his snicker, turning his back and decided the snow was something much better to observe. " I don't know what you have with him, but any problems you have with him can be directed towards him after we are done with this. If you insist on cooperating with us, then I will need you to cooperate with him, as much of a scumbag he really is…"

" What?! That's not…"

" …Fine…" Semilia sighed darkly.

" As for your animal companions, we cannot bring them because too much attention will be brought on their behalf. The guild has been alerted to our presence already in Morroc, and even going in like this might prove to be risky. There is no need to extra attention," Melanie replied. " Selene, I need you here to oversee them, and to serve as a meeting point. Can I count on you to do that?"

Selene merely nodded her head in agreement, not arguing at all.

" Well then, it is done. We will meet back here in two hours. Semilia, you go with Azaroth, and if I hear any complains about you from him, I'll deal with you personally," Melanie replied, flicking her hand at Maycron to signal him to follow.

-

Just like the skies, Lutie was quite grey and dull. The lack of sunlight meant lack of activity, and it was evident in the place. People shuffled along the streets slowly, all covered in thick clothing to keep themselves warm. Cold was an excellent way of stifling ones actions, and Lutie just proved that.

Regardless, the white snow was still beautiful to Azaroth's eyes. It suddenly struck him how much of a village boy he was, amazed at such a boring, plain sight such as snow. He had not seen snow in his life, and only listened to it in conversations. Coming first hand to see something he only heard in tales only made the vastness of the great white plains much more alluring. He merely cracked a grin as he strolled through town.

The streets were caked in a layer of snow as he walked through it. It was quiet town, only a few hawkers about selling their wares. Most of the buildings were single-storied, mainly made of stone, possibly carved from the nearby mountains. A few army personal were out and about, but nothing much to look at. Prontera had some influence in Lutie, but the small squadron is about the best they have.

" Where should we start looking, Commander?" Soreen asked.

" Tsk, tsk, tsk…where are your manners, Soreen?" Azaroth chided

" Oh…I'm sorry…" Soreen said, blushing slightly, which to Azaroth's opinion looked cute, especially with a snowy background to accentuate it. Maycron might have a field day if he knew what Azaroth was thinking about his girlfriend right now. " …where should we start looking, Azaroth?"

" Much better…" Azaroth sighed.

Azaroth always had a thing about younger people, especially girls, calling him Commander, or Captain, or previously Lieutenant. Calling him by rank always made him feel old somehow, which he disliked. Soreen merely expressed her respect towards him by calling him commander just because he was next in command of this ragtag group of people, not really because he was a real commander in rank.

General soldiers in the army, those who make up most of the places in the platoons usually don't have a rank. Second-in-commands of the platoons were given the rank of Lieutenants, and the leaders of those platoons Captains. Anyone of a higher rank, regardless of the status from an assistant Squadron commander to the top Division commander, were all addressed as Commanders. Right now, since he currently held the command to the 5th Platoon of Melanie's Squadron, he was only a Captain by rank.

" Nothing much. I'd rather avoid the usual places to look for them, just in case they are keeping an eye on us at taverns or inns and the sort. We will just need to look around to keep any eye on things," Azaroth said.

" Wouldn't that be a bit difficult? I mean, there aren't many people here, and we usually stand so far away from them as they are so widely spaced," Soreen replied.

" Relax, we've got Semilia here. I bet her elven eyes are sharp enough," Azaroth said, turning around to look behind him.

Semilia followed him at a distance, eying him with slight contempt, which was amplified when he spoke to her. Azaroth wondered if it was a bad move on Melanie's part to keep Semilia with him. Although her attitude improved slightly from Melanie's harsh words, she still kept her reservations, and the aura she emitted seem to blacken the area around her, or at least that was what Azaroth felt.

" I'm joking. I'm sure you can take a joke," Azaroth replied, attempting to lighten up the situation. Soreen looked worriedly at both the elf and her platoon commander, worried something might break out between them. " Look, I'm not too fussy with why you hate me, alright? Heck, I doubt I'll rat on you even if you do mistreat me. You could at least do me the favour by telling me why you hate me."

Semilia merely narrowed her eyes further when he spoke, but remained silent.

" It's not wise to provoke her…I hate to imagine what would happen if she was really angry with you," Soreen warned.

" Come now…I've handled Melanie already. If I can take on a woman like her, I can take on anything," Azaroth replied, grinning. Soreen gave him a look of surprise, then laughed in agreement with him.

-

" Well, what exactly are we supposed to look for?" Flick asked as both him and Camelia walked down the streets of Lutie, away from the other pairs. Camelia looked irritated somehow, as if asking a question was testing her nerves in a way. Flick caught the look on her face, and shut up at once.

" Just shut up and use your brains for once," Camelia sighed.

" This is just very tiring. We don't even know if they are here, and here we are, walking around in circles just trying to find some random clue that might lead us to them. The odds are against us," Flick replied.

" Just shut up for once and look around," Camelia replied. " Melanie is depending on it, and you are not helping."

" Alright, alright…geez…" Flick replied, wanting her to stop talking him down on the subject.

However, Camelia shared his sentiments. This was still highly irregular. They still had no idea on the guild activities, and they were barging in here without any clue. Perhaps Melanie was desperate to act since she didn't have any clue to work on, but then again, the odds are the Deathguise guild will be on their guard, so tracking them down quietly might be a waste of time anyway. Besides, the time for them to act is shortening. If they don't find the acolytes fast enough, Camelia hated to think of what would happen.

" Why do I get the feeling that someone is watching us?" Flick spoke up again.

Camelia, on normal occasions, would talk him down once more, saying paranoia was somehow washing over his body and he was too much of a spineless Picky to do anything, but then again, Flick had an unusual, uncanny six sense when it came to things like these, especially on dangerous missions like these. If Flick felt his mother's ghost was speaking to him right now, she'd believe him.

" Where?" Camelia asked.

" I don't know…" Flick replied.

However, another annoying feature he had was not being able to know what was actually stalking him, if he knew somehow someone was stalking him.

Camelia and Flick looked around. The area wasn't really populated with people, so they looked around carefully. Camelia wondered if an assassin or rogue from the guild had caught wind of them and was now watching them carefully. The guild might be alerted, and their trip to Lutie might be a very short one.

However, her glance fell upon a singular person, mainly due to the fact that he was acting very strangely. He was wrapped in a dark red cloak around his body, with a mask over his face. Very peculiarly, he was standing right in the middle of the road, about 10 meters away from them, staring at them with his sharp looking eyes. Camelia had no idea why he was there.

" A member of the guild?" Camelia asked.

" Maybe," Flick replied, his hand going to his sword, but keeping it inside his sheath.

The person merely looked at them. After what felt like an antagonizing minute, he turned around and slowly walked away, heading towards the edge of the city. Camelia and Flick merely looked at him curiously. As he reached the edge of the city, he paused, and turned around and looked at them once more.

" I think he wants us to follow him," Flick replied.

Camelia wasn't sure if she wanted to agree with him. If he was their enemy, he wouldn't let his presence be known to them so easily, since even novices had even better stealth skills than he had. Also, if he was about to tell his master on what was going on, he sure is not going to do it at such a leisurely pace.

Carefully, they took a few steps forward. The person turned around once more and walked. Camellia and Flick paused after a while, and the man paused again, turning around to look at them. Feeling a little bit bolder, they continued forward. They tailed him from behind, going out of the city limits. As they neared the city edge, the man suddenly took off, and before they could start running after him, he had vanished from sight.

" Most likely an assassin," Flick said, sighing.

" What did he want to do with us?" Camelia asked. She looked around. All she saw was the plain landscape of the Lutie plains, all the frozen white area, blanketed in snow, quiet and tranquil. If the assassin wanted them to see something, she could not spot it.

" Hmm…"

Camelia looked up towards where Flick was pointing when he raised his hands. Up towards one of the mountain passes stood several old castles. They used to serve as watch-posts and old siege fortresses during the old wars between Lutie and Geffen, now long left abandoned as there was no further use for them.

One specific castle had its lights on.

-

" I'm cold," Iris replied, hugging herself and shivering slightly. " I'm never going to get used to cold."

Crystal merely shuffled about Patch as he laid down quietly, looking rather restless without Semilia around to keep a leash on him. Crystal looked worriedly at him, wondering if the wolf might do anything rash. She glanced at the rogue and the priestess who were sitting some distance away. Crystal wondered what was up with them.

Grimjaw sighed quietly as he looked at Lutie, the city glowing slightly under the few lights they had. It gave him a very melancholic feeling, this feeling being further enhanced by the cold weather. He looked at Selene, who was keeping her distance from him. There still were things left unsettled with them, but Grimjaw wasn't in the mood to deal with them.

" So, how was Morroc?" Selene suddenly spoke.

It surprised Grimjaw slightly when Selene spoke to him. It wasn't harsh or as cold as he had expected, but still had an air of reservation about her. She didn't look at him directly, obviously avoiding his gaze.

" Fine…looks like shit as per usual," Grimjaw replied.

" Why did you bother going back?" Selene asked.

" …"

" Why?" Selene asked, slightly more forceful right now.

" I've already told you my reasons, Selene. Whether you want to accept them or not is another matter," Grimjaw replied. He would like to let this conversation carry on, but there was a limit to his patience on the subject. As much as he would like to speak, he decided he wasn't worthy enough.

However, Selene suddenly closed in on him, and stood over him like some overbearing figure. " You are lying, Grimjaw. I've listened to your reasons to why you wanted to go back, but it's a lie from the very start. You didn't go back because you couldn't live a Pronteran life, to change anew. You are hiding something from me," Selene spoke.

" …I'm not…"

" I didn't live till this long without knowing how to discern lies, Grimjaw. If you can hone your senses to sense whether one is telling the truth or not, then so can I," Selene replied. Grimjaw stood up and walked away, not wanting to hear it anymore. It pained him deeply to discuss it. " Why are you lying to us, Grimjaw? Why are you lying to your sister and me?"

Grimjaw attempted to ignore her statement.

" Am…Am I…not worthy enough for your trust?" Selene asked.

The words hit him like a wall of bricks, and he stopped in his tracks. Looking back at her, he could see tears welling up slightly in her eyes. Grimjaw didn't like that look. Not one bit.

" It's not because I don't trust you, Selene…matter are more complicated than that," Grimjaw replied.

" But…!"

" Sorry to butt in on such a sensitive occasion, but Obelisk and Peineya are missing!" Iris said suddenly slithering up between both of them. Grimjaw and Selene looked at her shocked, before glancing around. The Munak and Bongun were now missing.

-

Somewhere deep within the frozen plains of the city, slightly to the north, was a rather empty space of land next to a whole set of hills and mountains. The landscape of this place was uneven, with pieces of earth coming up from the ground. It was on this place stood a lone figure of a young woman, dressed in black robes with a black, twisted looking staff in her hand. Right beneath her, a large circle covered the area, surrounding her in red, glowing runes, most of the words illegible except save for a few people, except her.

" Not good…it isn't good enough," she spoke to herself. She waved her hand about, as if to test the power the magic runic circle radiated. She rubbed her fingers together, then muttered once more. " Hmm, still useless…Treiken better make a good job out of it, or else his soul is mine for the keeping."

There was some shuffling somewhere, and she turned around casually. Out of nowhere, a Munak came up to her, hopping up towards the edge of the circle, followed closely by a Bongun.

" Wow, didn't think I'd draw anything here with such a seal, but…" the woman spoke, but then paused for a while. " Hmm…you aren't bounded by anything magical, yet…you belong to someone, don't you?"

" Who are you, strange woman? You look like some sort of witch" the Bongun asked, all of a sudden. The Munak stayed quiet, merely looking at the red runic circle that had somehow drawn her here all of a sudden.

" My name doesn't really matter to mere undead such as you, but if you really want to know, it's Tyranus. I'm busy testing something here, and my magic has somehow drawn you two here. It's highly unlikely that two undead creatures that originate from the caves of Payon would be wandering so far away from your place, so I assume that you must have some master that you follow. However, somehow, there are no magical enchantments binding your souls."

" We aren't pets, if that's what you mean. We are following Semilia on our own will," the Bongun replied. Tyranus narrowed her eyes when she heard the name Semilia, and then smiled to herself. The bongun caught the smile, then asked " Why are you smiling?"

" Nothing, I never thought she would make it this far," Tyranus replied, licking her lips. The Bongun looked at her quizzically, wondering what this strange woman was up to, while the Munak merely watched passively. " So, she owns a pair of undead with wills. A rare find, I must say."

" Rare find?" the Bongun asked.

" Undead are merely vessels of their former existences, brought back by dark magic to serve, or merely to just roam the earth till their bodies fall apart like their souls once did. Only higher class beings can still retain their souls and personalities, and free will, after being brought back as an undead. What a lovely coincidence to meet you two here," Tyranus replied, laughing.

The Bongun merely looked at her as she giggled to herself while snapping her fingers. The red runic circle started to disappear slowly, and faded into nothing, as if it were never there before. " Now, I have business to tend to, but I'm sure I'll see you two sometime soon," she replied, before snapping her fingers, purple sparks flying all around before she disappeared into nothingness.

" Obelisk, Peineya! What are you doing here?!" Selene's voice called out to them. Both of them turned around to see the rest of them running up to the two of them. Iris came up and grabbed Obelisk with one of her arms, picking him up like some rag doll, and shook him around violently. " You had us worried, why did you go off like that?...Iris, stop, his neck might break."

" I bet it was your fault…" Iris growled, shaking him even harder.

" Don't bully him," Crystal replied. Grimjaw noticed Patch seem to be making some funny noise under his breath, as if the wolf was laughing somehow.

" Wasn't my fault. Peineya and me were drawn here all of a sudden by some weird force, so we came, moving along the place step by step, it was cold, but heck, we didn't really mind, and we met this lady who was standing here, with some magic, snapping her fingers and all, glowing circle under her feet, and she talked to us, and then she made the glowing circle go away, then disappeared as well," Obelisk answered, before Iris pummeled him on the head. " What was that for?!"

" That's for lying, you lousy dead piece of flesh!" Iris hissed loudly at him.

" What?! It's true! Peineya, tell them what I said is true!" Obelisk groaned.

Peineye didn't move, but merely nodded her head as she continued to look around passively, without any emotion. Grimjaw and Selene looked at each other, not too sure what to make of the current events that had just happened.